Pablo Berger

As a member of the Hollywood Film Academy, Pablo Berger is currently watching films that may be selected for the Oscars. He is also working on his next project. In spite of his busy schedule, he found time to travel from Madrid to Bilbao to receive the Mikeldi de Honor award at the recent Zinebi festival. Forty years ago, this festival awarded a prize to Mama, the short film that launched his career.

Pablo Berger’s roots run deep along the banks of the Nervión estuary. “The estuary is the lifeblood of Bilbao, seeing it, walking along its banks”’ insists the author of feature films such as Blancanieves and Robot Dreams, which have earned him multiple awards and international recognition.

Berger is a member of the Hollywood Film Academy.

“I am now in the process of watching films for the upcoming Oscars. Madrid has become the venue for screenings of these films that we have to evaluate. The European vote is becoming increasingly influential” reveals the filmmaker.

To join the Academy, the institution must invite you. “One day I received a message from a friend of mine, who is a music designer and editor in Hollywood, saying: “Pablo, congratulations, welcome to the AMPAS”. I didn’t understand anything. I Googled it and saw that I was being welcomed as a new member of the Hollywood Academy. My name appeared alongside a bunch of great directors and actors. You have to be nominated by at least two members, and then they examine each case , Berger recalls.

The director also feels very honoured to have received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in Spain and the distinction of Knight of Arts and Letters in France.

“The film Blancanieves was a big hit in France. It was more successful than in Spain. I received a registered letter from the French Ministry of Culture. One of my grandparents was French, but I don’t speak the language, so I didn’t understand the letter very well. I discovered that they were naming me Knight of Arts and Letters. The event was impressive, very beautiful. For the French, it is a great honour. And for me too,” he emphasises.

Now based in Madrid, Pablo Berger lived in New York for a decade at the end of the last millennium.

“I’m an urban person, from Bilbao, from the city centre. I love cities. I grew up in one. I like being able to walk to the cinema, to the supermarket, take the underground, live in a community. I’m very interested in theatre, concerts, galleries, exhibitions, buying books. For me, it was a very natural step to go to New York from Bilbao. New York is like a bigger version of Bilbao. Although the Bilbao I knew then was a tough city, albeit an exciting one, it prepared me for New York. Then life took me to Tokyo, Paris, London… I like cities.”

This passionate urbanite and brilliant filmmaker recommends that anyone visiting his home city “definitely visit the Museum of Fine Arts and, of course, the Guggenheim. Not to mention immersing yourself in the culture of pintxos, cañas, and cuadrillas… I still have the same group of friends I had when I was young. It helps you not to forget where you come from. I think that’s an important part of Bilbao”, he emphasises.

Pablo Berger with Nati Ortiz de Zárate, co-star of Mama, the short film that launched his career.